Flat Roof Repairs · Shirley CR0
Flat Roof Repairs In Shirley
Is the extension roof at the back of your Shirley semi the one letting you down?
Repairs to rear extensions, garages and porch roofs under Shirley's trees, in felt, EPDM or GRP
Most Shirley houses have two roofs. There's the hipped or gabled one on top, in concrete tile, which mostly just gets on with it. Then there's the flat one at the back, added years later over a kitchen extension or a garage, and that's the one people ring about. On the roads off Wickham Road, in Spring Park and around Monks Orchard, the interwar and postwar semis have been extended again and again. Add the trees, which drop leaves, needles and moss onto that flat roof for much of the year and keep it in shade, and you get a roof that stays damp, drains slowly and wears out sooner than it should.
Flat Roof Repairs quote in Shirley
Four details and somebody will come and look at it. There is no charge for the visit, no obligation afterwards, and if the answer is that your roof is fine, that is what you will be told.
The people behind it
Same job, two brothers on it
An extension roof under trees is a fairly ordinary repair, and it still gets the attention of the people who own the business. Roof Repairs Croydon is family-run. The two brothers in charge, John and Mark, often sit down with the numbers on a quote together.
Once the work is booked you have two people to call, not one. Both keep up with how your roof is getting on, so if one doesn't pick up, the other usually will. People often tell them that's refreshing.
1,000+
Roofs put right
10 year
Written workmanship guarantee
£0
To have somebody come and look
Repair first
Replacement is the last resort
Signs the flat roof on your Shirley house needs attention
Under trees, most flat roof trouble starts with drainage. These are the things to look for, ideally from a back bedroom window.
A brown mat of leaves around the outlet
The outlet is blocked, or close to it. Water then sits on the roof until it evaporates, which in the shade can take days, and the covering around the outlet breaks down first.
Green patches or moss on the felt
Shade and constant damp. Moss holds water against the surface and its roots work into the mineral finish. On its own it isn't a leak, but it tells you the roof rarely dries out.
A drip at the back door after rain
Usually the edge where the flat roof meets the drip trim above the door, or a gutter that has overflowed back under the covering. Leaf-clogged gutters are the likelier cause round here.
A garage roof that feels springy when you press it from a ladder
Water has got into the boards. Some older garages and extensions were decked in sheet materials that go soft once wet, and the felt can look fine while the deck under it gives way.
What you get when we repair a flat roof in Shirley
Both roofs checked on one visit
You ring about the extension, we look at the main roof as well. A blocked gutter on the tiled slope often empties straight onto the flat roof below it.
Outlets and gutters cleared first
Before we judge the covering, we clear off what the trees have dropped on it. Now and then that alone stops the leak.
A covering chosen with the shade in mind
Under heavy canopy a smooth membrane such as EPDM or GRP tends to shed debris more easily than mineral felt, which gives moss a grip. We explain the trade-off on your roof.
Access planned around the garden
Protected trees, tight side passages and greenhouses all affect where a ladder or tower can go. We sort that out on the survey, not on the morning.
The deck checked under the covering
We press, probe and lift where needed. A new layer laid over soft boards only hides the problem for a while.
Ten year written guarantee
It covers our workmanship and comes with photos once the finished roof has been water tested.
Shirley's trees and the extension roof
Few parts of Croydon have as many trees as Shirley, and the cover carries on up towards Shirley Hills and the Addington Hills. Lovely from the garden. Hard on a flat roof. Leaves come down for months, not weeks, and pine needles knit into a mat over outlets. The shade means the surface stays damp long after the rain stops, so moss and algae get going, and a felt roof that would dry in an afternoon of open sun can stay wet for days.
The extensions vary a lot. The semis here went up in the interwar and postwar years with tiled roofs that were designed as a whole. The flat roofs at the back came later, built by whoever the owner hired at the time, and some were laid with barely any fall. Put a low-fall roof under a tree and you get standing water full of leaf litter. That combination is what wears the covering out, and it's why we look at drainage before we talk about materials.
"On Shirley houses a leaking extension roof very often has a blocked outlet or gutter behind it, with the covering failing because of that rather than on its own."
From flat roof repairs enquiries in Shirley handled by Roof Repairs Croydon
Our flat roof repair process in Shirley
Tell us about the trees
Which way the roof faces and what hangs over it both matter. A photo from an upstairs window helps us see the surface and the outlet before we come.
Clear, then inspect
On the free visit we clear the outlet and gutters so we can see the covering properly, then check the edges, the wall junction and the deck.
Look up as well as down
We check the main roof's gutters above the extension, because water and debris from up there end up on the flat roof.
Price both options
A repair and a re-cover where both are reasonable, with any new boards and any tower listed separately so nothing is hidden in a lump sum.
Do the work
Old covering stripped back to sound, soft boards replaced, falls improved towards the outlet, and the junction with the house wall dressed and flashed.
Test and hand over
A hose or bucket over the finished roof to prove it drains, photos for your records and the ten year guarantee in writing. We'll also suggest how often to clear it under your trees.
The 10 year guarantee, and why it is safe to offer
Promising a roof will stay dry is easy. What counts is what happens if it does not. Work booked through Roof Repairs Croydon carries a 10 year workmanship guarantee, on paper, handed to you on the day and written in language you can actually read. The slates, tiles, lead, mortar, membranes and rainwater goods carry their own manufacturer cover on top of that. It varies by product, so you get told which cover applies to your job rather than one headline number that would be wrong on most of them.
Here is the reason a guarantee like that is not a risk. Repairs come back for one reason above all others: the fault was never found in the first place. Somebody went up, saw a stain on the ceiling below, mended whatever looked worst directly above it, and left. Water does not cooperate with that approach. It lands on a slate, runs under it, drops onto a rafter and travels along the rafter before it finds anywhere to fall. On a wide hipped roof in Sanderstead or Shirley that can be five metres from where it came in.
Find the entry point and the repair holds for years. Miss it and no amount of guarantee wording helps anybody. That is why the survey happens before the price, and it is why, if the same water finds its way back into your house inside the guarantee period, putting it right costs you nothing.
10 year
Workmanship guarantee
1,000+
Roofs put right
Covered
Public liability insurance
Per product
Maker's own warranty
What to check before you book a flat roof repair in Shirley
Did they clear it before quoting?
A roof covered in leaves can hide splits and soft spots. Someone who quotes without clearing it first is guessing.
What will they do about drainage?
Ask where the water will go after the repair and whether the outlet is big enough for a roof that collects leaves. A new covering with the same blocked outlet will fail the same way.
How will they get to the roof?
If there's a protected tree near the extension, ask how they will set up the ladder or tower without harming it. That belongs on the quote, not in a conversation on the day.
Repair it, or re-cover in rubber?
Both make sense on a Shirley extension or garage. This is how they compare on a roof that spends a lot of the year in shade and leaf litter.
| Comparison point | Repair what's there | Re-cover in EPDM |
|---|---|---|
| Suits | A sound deck with one bad spot | Tired felt or soft boards |
| Leaf litter | Same surface as before | Smooth, sweeps clean easily |
| Moss | Returns on mineral felt | Less for it to grip |
| Time on site | Often done the same day | A day or two on most |
| Naked flame | Depends on the repair | None, it is cold bonded |
| Cost | Lower now | More now, fewer call-outs later |
Damp further up the house?
If the stain is upstairs rather than in the extension, the main roof may be at fault, and on a semi the chimney is a frequent suspect. Have a look at our page on chimney repairs in Shirley before you blame the flat roof.
What flat roof repairs cost in Shirley
Flat roofs here are mostly modest in size, so what you pay mostly depends on the state of the deck and the route up to the roof.
Tree cover in Spring Park and Monks Orchard
On the roads below Shirley Hills, and in Spring Park and Monks Orchard, an extension under heavy canopy can have years of leaf mould on it and soft boards underneath. More clearing and more new decking take more time.
Getting past the garden
A tight side return, a greenhouse in the way or a protected tree close to the extension may mean carrying a tower through or working from a different side.
The size and shape of the roof
A plain garage rectangle is quick. An L-shaped extension with a rooflight, a soil pipe and a wall junction on two sides takes longer to detail properly.
Flat Roof Repairs in Shirley: questions
Will Croydon Council need to approve a new covering on my Shirley flat roof?
Not for like-for-like re-covering. Shirley is in the London Borough of Croydon, and putting a new covering on an existing flat roof generally needs no planning application. Renew more than 25% of the roof, though, and building regulations may kick in, normally over insulation levels. The thing to check in Shirley is the trees. Many residential roads have protected trees, and those can affect where a scaffold or tower can stand. Cutting back a protected tree needs the council's consent. Shirley Windmill is listed, but that only affects the mill.
Why does my extension roof keep growing moss?
Shade and damp. A roof under trees gets little sun and stays wet, and spores land on it all year. Mineral felt gives moss an easy surface to hold on to. Scraping it off and treating it helps, but under a big canopy it will come back. A smoother membrane, or more regular clearing, stops it building up enough to block the outlet.
How often should a flat roof in Shirley be cleared?
Under trees, at least twice a year: when the trees are bare in late autumn, and again around May. If a big tree hangs right over it, a quick look after an autumn storm is worth doing too. A clear outlet does more for a flat roof's life than almost anything else, and it costs very little.
Can a protected tree stop my flat roof being repaired?
Rarely. It might change how the work is done. We avoid fixing anything to the tree, keep ladders and towers off its roots where we can, and work around branches rather than cutting them. If a branch genuinely has to come back, that needs consent from Croydon Council first, and we would tell you before the job is booked.
My garage roof leaks but the house is fine. Is it worth repairing?
Usually. A garage roof is often the cheapest flat roof on the property to put right, and water left getting in will rot the timbers and spoil whatever is stored underneath. If the deck is sound, a repair may be all it needs. If the boards are soft across most of it, re-covering on new boards is better value than patching it every winter.
What Croydon homeowners say
From roads across the borough, once the ladders had gone.
"Damp patch on our landing ceiling for about three years. Two roofers had been out and both mended the tiles directly above it, and neither made the slightest difference. This chap spent twenty minutes in the loft with a torch before he even went outside, then showed me a photo of a split in the lead in the valley about four metres away from the stain. Fixed it in a morning. Three winters on and nothing."
"Water was coming down the front bedroom wall every time it rained hard and I had convinced myself the roof was finished. It was the gutter. Half of it had dropped so the water was sitting in the middle and going over the front rather than down the pipe. He reset the brackets and cleared the gully, charged me a fraction of what I had budgeted for, and told me the roof itself had years left. Could easily have sold me a new one."
"Ours is in the Chatsworth Road conservation area and I had no idea the rules on roof work here are stricter than the rest of Croydon. He knew straight away, explained what I could and could not do without an application, and did the repair in matching slate. That saved me a very awkward conversation with the council later on."
"Lost most of the ridge tiles along the back in a February gale. Rang in the morning, sheeted the same afternoon so the weather could not get in, came back the following week when it was dry and rebedded the whole ridge properly. Sent me photos of everything for the insurance without me even asking. The bill was exactly what the quote said it would be."
"Gutters had been overflowing under the trees for years and the fascia behind them had gone soft. What I appreciated was that he explained why the timber had rotted rather than just quoting to replace it, and pointed out the new soffits needed vents or I would end up with condensation in the loft instead. Nobody had ever mentioned that to me before."
Had us out to your roof?
Two minutes writing a review does more for a small local firm than any amount of advertising, and it helps the next person in Croydon work out who to ring.
Things to do in Shirley
Three spots on Shirley's side of the borough worth a visit once the extension is dry.
Shirley Windmill
A five-storey brick tower mill from 1854, built after fire destroyed the post mill that stood before it. It is Grade II listed and opens on some summer Sundays.
View on Google Maps - Shirley Windmill
Addington Hills
Roughly 130 acres of woods on a gravel ridge, with London's biggest area of heathland at the centre and a viewing platform looking over Croydon to central London.
View on Google Maps - Addington Hills
Shirley Heath
Ancient woodland and heath beside Shirley Church Road, all that is left of Spring Park Wood after much of it went for housing and a golf course in the early 1900s.
View on Google Maps - Shirley HeathShirley on the map
We're roughly 12 minutes away in South Croydon. For planning, tree consent and building control, Shirley comes under Croydon Council.
Areas we cover
Extensions and garages under trees are common right across the borough. Every town we cover is listed below.
Flat Roof Repairs by town
Shirley extension or garage roof playing up?
Send a photo from upstairs if you can. We come out for free, clear enough to see what's wrong, check the main roof above it, then send a fixed price you can hold us to.